I7 worth it?

I use my PC for gaming/multimedia and a little graphic design (but I try to leave that at work).

I'm looking to build soon, is it worth it to upgrade to an i7 920/X58 over an E8400/P45 for the $200-250 more I would be paying?

My current build is E6750/Asus iP35-e - Any thoughts?

I wouldn´t go for the E8400 becouse you´ll be only winning 10% of overall performance, a few watts of power consumption and couples of degrees less on your system (couse the 45nm transistors).
The unique real difference u will feel is a very little (even unperceptible) improve on your daily tasks.
The P45 only gives you the 1600FSB capability from factory, something that already gives u the P35 with no more than a bios tweek.
With the i7 u will be upgrading two generations, but does it justify your 250 bucks?.
I´ll wait to the next generation chipset in your case for considering an update since your cpu and chipset are very capable of doing every day chores. You won´t feel the difference unless you are all day at 100% CPU load.
In my opinion, wait till the next generation, with SATA 600 coming soon and nobody is rushing u since u already got a good performer.

good bye! and good luck!

BlueScreen, I read that seconds after posting this and almost pulled this question. If that is true, it would seem like a bad decision to move to a dying i7.

The one thing about the E8400 that is inticing is it's overclocking ability. Right now I'm just running my E6750 with stock cooler and voltages at 2.8, but from what I've read I could push the E8400 to 4ghz with a "cheaper" zalman and not really have to mess with my voltages... Sticking with my Asus iP35-e is there any chance I could get to 4ghz with the E8400? Getting upto 4ghz and moving to a GTX 2XX over my E6750 and 8800GT could hold me over for a good deal of time.

Side note, I'm gonna have to upgrade my 8800GT either way, she's pushing 90-95c at (high-AA) load no matter what I do. Thing can't be faring to well and can't imagine it will last for a whole lot longer.

To your side note idle my 8800GT is running 79C-76C (174 F- 168 F) and when im playing a games like Wolverine on my computer i've gotten the core up to 107C (224 F) and still no artifacts or anything and i was playing for a few hours who made your Video card mine is from XFX and it has the double lifetime warranty the 8800 Gt is still a good card

Now on with the original Question at hand

for and extra 250 the little bump in performance you'd get wouldnet be able to justify the cost at this time wait for the i5's and watch for reviews if you really want to get a little better performance if your motherboard supports it get a Quad core slap it in there and enjoy

Personally I think intel dual core cpu's are overpriced, overrated and only good for budget systems. There i also very little difference between the e8400 and the cpu you already have. Also you can get an AM3 quad for the same money and it's a lot better cpu. I use to have several intel dual core cpu's but after trying the AMD quad I have sold the intels and never looked back. The AMD is a lot more responsive in normal use and photoshop and is a lot smoother in gameplay. It also has twice the cores for the same money. Also don't read too much into the reviews because most of them are blatantly bias with there testing methods. The AMD is also far superior when gaming on a 24" or larger screen. It's your money so the end choice is yours.

Regards, Malcolm

If you're asking if the i7 is worth it, then you shouldn't buy it.